Dublin claim first Leinster title in 52 years

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Final: Dublin 2-25 Galway 2-13

Dublin produced a magical display to capture their first Leinster Senior Hurling Championship title since 1961 with a brilliant 12-point win over reigning champions Galway at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon.

Paul Ryan hit 2-7 for the Dubs, scoring goals in each half to help Anthony Daly's side to an incredible provincial success a little over 12 months after they were mauled by Kilkenny and then knocked out of the Qualifiers by Clare.

Dublin were 1-12 to 0-7 up at the break after Ryan had hit the first of his two goals in the 25th minute, his shot slipping past Galway goalkeeper James Skehill.

The Ballyboden man scored a second five minutes after the restart, giving the Dubs a 2-14 to 0-9 lead, his effort this time leaving Skehill with no chance.

Facing absolute humiliation, Galway rallied and it was Joe Canning who led the revival. He beat Peter Kelly to a high ball in the 50th minute, turned and smashed a brilliant shot beyond the otherwise superb Dublin goalkeeper, Gary Maguire.

Four minutes later, and Galway had a second. David Burke, who scored a fine goal in Galway's historic Leinster final defeat of Kilkenny last year, repeated the trick, driving an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

The gap was down to six points, 2-17 to 2-11, but Dublin hit back with a crucial score from Joey Boland before Conal Keaney added another vital effort.

With five minutes to go, Mark Schutte had a chance to bury the game for the Dubs but he kicked the sliotar off a defender and the deflection forced a great save from Skehill. At the other end, Maguire went full length to keep out a Canning shot.

In a crazy sequence, Mark Schutte then had another goal chance but he shot straight at Skehill and Galway just about stayed in the game.

However, Dublin finished superbly, stitching a series of points together in the last five minutes to seal the win. Conor McCormack hit two, Danny Sutcliffe added another and Dublin coasted over the line with 12 points to spare.

Dublin Scorers: P Ryan 2-7 (0-4f), D O'Callaghan 0-4, R O'Dwyer 0-3, J McCaffrey 0-2, J Boland 0-2, Conor McCormack 0-2, C Keaney 0-2, M Carton 0-1, D Sutcliffe 0-1, S Lambert 0-1.

Galway Scorers: J Canning 1-7 (0-4f), D Burke 1-0, C Cooney 0-2, I Tannian 0-1, J Regan 0-1, A Harte 0-1, J Glynn 0-1.

Dublin: G Maguire; N Corcoran, P Kelly, P Schutte; S Hiney, L Rushe, M Carton; J McCaffrey, J Boland; C Keaney, R O'Dwyer, D Sutcliffe; D O'Callaghan, D Treacy, P Ryan. Subs: M Schutte for C Keaney (31-33, blood), O Gough for P Schutte (55), S Durkin for J McCaffrey (57), M Schutte for D O'Callaghan (60), S Lambert for R O'Dwyer (67).

Galway: J Skehill; F Moore, K Hynes, J Coen; D Collins, S Kavanagh, J Cooney; I Tannian, J Regan; D Burke, C Cooney, C Donnellan; D Glennon, J Canning, N Burke. Subs: A Smith for J Regan (22), A Harte for C Donnellan (HT), J Glynn for D Glennon (45), A Callanan for J Cooney (63).

Referee: Johnny Ryan (Tipperary)

Attendance: 36,657